Annalisa Barbieri, a columnist for The Guardian, recently published an advice column titled “I moved abroad to live with my wife, but I’ve come to hate her country.” Intimate, smart, and full of heart, in this provocative and honest narrative nonfiction work, she probes the issues that surface when you follow your lover to his home country. Barbieri’s column highlights the deep emotional and practical challenges so many experience when making such moves.
Moving overseas can sometimes be a wonderful and adventurous prospect, frequently fueled by romance and yearning to create a new life together. It also has the potential to create major roadblocks. Barbieri’s experience illustrates how daunting the adjustment period can be when new arrivals enter a challenging culture and environment. She hopes to connect with readers who have gone through the same trials and tribulations moving for romance.
In this week’s column, Barbieri invites anyone who went abroad to follow their partner to share their stories. She stresses the need to share these journeys because, like her, so many people are traveling these kinds of roads right now. The column aims to create an open dialogue with communities considering or already facing relocation about the realities behind movement. It details some of the challenges you might face when relocating.
Readers who would like to be featured in this series can write in with their experiences and insights. In fact, in addition to the required materials they can submit up to 2 photos (5.7 MB max) per submission. Barbieri asks for your consent before using any names in the answers to publish them, so as not to violate the privacy of these people.
Barbieri’s beyond-school-hours examination of this topic is especially timely. Through her story, it sheds light on the un-narrated struggles of starting over in a new country for the sake of love. Her manifesto-in-progress for collective experience not only humanizes victims but cultivates a close-knit tribe of the traumatized. More importantly, perhaps, it reveals the emotional intricacies at play behind such decisions.
“I moved abroad to live with my wife, but I’ve come to hate her country.” – Annalisa Barbieri